A paintball gun has a bolt which, by moving forward, selects a paintball from a magazine and then admits air under pressure to the barrel of the gun behind the selected paintball to fire it. After the selected paintball has been fired the bolt has to be moved back. Paintball guns therefore have pneumatic spool valves which have ports selectively communicable with air chambers in front of and behind the bolt. To move the bolt forward an air chamber behind the bolt is communicated with the same source of compressed air as is used to fire a paintball while at the same time an air chamber in front of the bolt is vented. To move the bolt back the chamber in front of the bolt is pressurised while the chamber behind the bolt is vented.
The spool valves currently used in paintball guns have air admission and discharge ports which are radial with respect to the spool of the valve. Consequently there must be associated with the spool valve a manifold having air passageways generally parallel with the spool of the valve. The spool valve is located in a square-section housing which also accommodates a poppet valve which actuates the spool valve and a solenoid which actuates the poppet valve. The manifold is adjacent one side of the housing. This assembly is of substantial vertical extent, making the gun as a whole tall and ungainly.
A principal object of the present invention is to provide a slimmer and more compact paintball gun.